Conspiracies
by Rangan
Summary: Sgt. James Harrison is on a mission to stop a Consortium advance in the city of Detriot. But Harrison ends up discovering a dark plan, and ends up finding out that all is not what it seems.


Act of War: Direct Action Fanfiction

By Rangan Anandan

Chapter 1: Conspiracies

General James Harrison drove his fully armored Transport UH-60 Blackhawk over the narrow road in downtown Detroit. Following him was a large group of V-44 jets ready to drop their load on moments notice.

As he continued down the path, he found a large intersection that had little traffic. "Let's set up our base here" he said. The V-44 jets landed on the hard, concrete ground, dropping several excavators and a few M1A2 Abrams tanks for immediate defense. All of these units were ready for direct action, as the Consortium was ready to assault their position.

"Build up, men!" ordered Harrison to his crowd of excavators. They quickly set up a Light Armor Depot, a Heavy Armor Depot, a barracks, a heliport, an HQ, a field hospital, and two field generators. Within five hours, the base was fully operational. Light M2A3 Bradley tanks were driving around on patrol. ADATS turrets were viewing the surroundings, ready to shoot at any vehicle that comes close.

"What I like about the U.S. army is our ability to be set up within a few hours," thought Harrison. "Although we can't do as good a job as Task Force Talon can". The Task Force Talon had been recently formed up again, although the intentions of its commander, Jason Richter, were unclear.

"Ugh, that bastard Richter," thought Harrison to himself. Richter had so much power in Pentagon, yet he was one of the most immature bastards he had ever seen. Being a devout Christian and a firm believer in morals and ethics, Harrison hated the way Richter behaved. "Richter doesn't give a damn about protecting our nation, all he cares about is booze, babes, and money," thought Harrison. "He is up to something, I can feel it. There has to be a reason why he decided to reform Task Force Talon again under his full command."

Harrison decided to stop daydreaming and went back to his current task at hand. Recent attacks on the city by the Consortium have drawn attention to Pentagon, who dispatched Harrison and his army to go and end the threat. They chose Harrison because, as a four star General, he was more than capable of handling the threat by himself.

"What should we do now, sir?" questioned Lieutenant Sanjay Vailore, Harrison's most trusted lieutenant. Tall and thin, Sanjay was a handsome Indian male. Harrison envied Sanjay because he was so young and promising at 26 years old. Harrison himself was 45, and he was gaining fatter with each passing year. His well trimmed beard and smooth black hair are features that make him stand out, but his belly and his big nose made him a funny looking man. Nevertheless, he was very well respected by his peers.

"Tell all the men and women to get ready. We are going to prepare an assault on the Consortium base that is northwest of our position." said Harrison to Sanjay.

"Yes, sir," replied Sanjay as he left the Blackhawk.

Just then one of the ADATS turrets began to spin around wildly. It indicated that something nearby was there, some sort of stealthed unit. All of a sudden a Fennek stealth patrol vehicle appeared in the middle of the U.S. Army base. The ADATS turrets began to fire at the frantic Fennek.

The driver of the Fennek switched on his Comm. He began uttering a message to the Americans. "Please, don't shoot!" he screamed. "I am here on peac…."

He was cut off. It was too late. The ADATS turret ripped the Fennek apart. And along with the vehicle the passengers were torn to shreds as well.

"What the heck is going on?" asked Harrison to the people around the crash as he arrived on the scene.

"There was a Fennek that came in to the midst of our base. He seemed to be carrying a peace message. At least that is what he told us before the ADATS turret bombed him away." said Sanjay.

"Peace? With the Consortium?" said Harrison. "They are not the type who would offer peace to their enemies so swiftly. I think we better go check this out. Is the army ready?"

"Yes sir, they are. In full fighting condition." replied Sanjay.

"Great. Give the orders to move out. We are going to see what the Consortium is up to." said Harrison.

The large army fielded by Harrison began to progress toward the coordinates of the Consortium base. His force comprised of a heavy frontline of M1A2 Abrams, M2A3 Bradley's, and a few Avengers. Behind them were a group of M109 Paladins, ready to fire out their artillery shells. Above the army flew a group of AH64D Apache attack helicopters. And on the flanks there were Delta Force Marines and Javelin anti tank missile troopers. And in the middle there was Harrison in his transport Blackhawk. It was a truly fine army of the U.S.

As the army approached the Consortium base, they halted. Harrison observed the base. He noted that the Consortium had gone to revealed status, as he saw a Stealth Armor Lab and a Tokamak Reactor. Also there were a large group of Railgun turrets at the front of the base. "We better not get in range of those," said Harrison.

Harrison ordered the men to stay still. He wanted to know more about these "peace negotiations". He called for a FAT-V scout patrol unit to go and signal the Consortium.

Private Jonas Ksengsk was standing atop the large tower like structure that was in front of the base. He was stationed there because Command knew that the U.S. Army would arrive soon. Even though sentry duty was boring, this time it wasn't because Ksengsk knew that company would soon be arriving. Ksengsk wished he could just blast away at the Americans with his AK-74 rifle, because his friends Leonard Kovrosky was killed by them a few hours ago, but Command wished that the U.S. to not be attacked. Why this was, Ksengsk was not certain, because any info was generally never given to the AK- 74 soldiers, as they were the lowest ranking men in the Consortium. So Ksengsk was just told to watch.

Just then, Ksengsk spotted a FAT-V driving on the street that led to the Consortium base. "There they are," said Ksengsk to the other AK-74 soldiers on duty. "I'll comm in commander Stukov," he finished.

Ksengsk switched on his tiny com link. Then he quietly whispered into it the message that the Americans had arrived at the base. "The Americans are here, O noble general."

General Vladimir Stukov acknowledged the comm sent by Ksengsk. "Okay. Thanks for watching, Ksengsk," said Stukov. After this the Consortium base went on full alert. Sirens blasted away and everyone in the base was moving.

"Anytime, general," replied Ksengsk while observing the U.S. Army using his binoculars.

"Prepare our forces!" ordered Stukov to his troops. They acknowledged his order, and set about preparing the Consortium army for battle.

General Stukov remembered the bit of info he had overheard from Richter. "Wait, men. We need to let our U.S. Army friends know about the info we heard. Send for a Fennek. I am going to talk to their leader," he told everyone.

"Yes, sir," said one of his lieutenants. Soon afterward Stukov was inside a Fennek, maneuvering toward the enemy army.

General Harrison sat in his transport Blackhawk, ready to give orders. Sipping on a cup of coffee, he was prepared for the terrible battle that was about to ensue. But just then, an unstealthed Fennek was speeding toward Harrison's large army. And on his comm, there was a message from the man inside the Fennek. "Do not shoot. I am the commander of the Consortium forces here. I have come to give you some important info" said the man.

Harrison hastily replied, "Okay, we will hear you, but you must disarm yourself first."

"Understood," said Stukov as he parked the Fennek close to the U.S. Army forces and disembarked from it. Harrison did the dame, and disembarked from the transport Blackhawk. They both walked up to each other. First, a large group of U.S. marines approached Stukov and checked to make sure he was unarmed. Then, they pointed their powerful M-16 machine guns at the Consortium commander's head. Only after this did the two commanders shake hands.

"Hello sir. I am Commander Vladimir Stukov of the Consortium forces here. I have come to tell you some important info that my men gathered while doing recon missions." said Stukov to Harrison.

"How am I to trust you? How do I know you aren't lying?" replied Harrison.

"I am telling you, this info is real. And you need to hear it. It is very important for your country." said Stukov.

"Since when did you terrorists begin to care about our country? All you guys have done is kill our citizens and destroy our refineries." yelled Harrison in a beleaguered tone.

Stukov replied, "Now, we do care. Your country is about to become engulfed in a civil war. The man Jason Richte…."

Just then the distinct sound of a gunshot was heard. One of the marines who were pointing their gun at Stukov's head fired a shot into the general's brain. As soon as this occurred the marine ran away and was evacuated by a V-44 Heavy Transport vehicle.

Everyone gasped, both the U.S. army forces and the Consortium forces. "What the heck…" muttered Harrison.

"Our leader is dead! Killed by the Americans! Prepare our tactics! ATTACK!" ordered one of the late Stukov's lieutenants to the Consortium army. The sirens once again blasted away and Consortium troops began to move.

"No! We didn't mean to! It was not in our control…" shouted out Harrison to no avail. It was too late. The leaderless Consortium army began to march towards the U.S. Army forces. "Prepare for battle, men!" hollered Harrison to his troops as he got back on his transport UH-60 Blackhawk.

A small group of AMX-10 RC Tanks and Akula Stealth tanks approached the U.S. Army forces from the front. Behind them was a group of Piranha Mortars and Tunguska anti air vehicles. Above the force was a battalion of Mi-35 Hind-D Helicopters. And also there were Optical Camo soldiers, Kornet Missile troopers, SA-7 missile troopers, and some RPG-7 soldiers with the army. Harrison had to laugh at this sight. The army was so small; his much larger force could defeat it within a matter of minutes. So he ordered his forces to perform an attack maneuver.

However, not all was what it seemed. When the armies got close to each other, a large force of Consortium units similar to the main attack group came out from both flanks of Harrison's army. Apparently there had been two Sleeper Cells there and they were used to create an ambush. He was trapped! The panicked U.S. Army forces looked like they were ready to scramble for their lives.

"Stay calm, men!" ordered Harrison to his troops. The men acknowledged the order and stood still, waiting for further orders. "_We can still win this_," thought Harrison to himself as he told his men to spread apart and cover the flanks. 'Okay men. Attack!" ordered Harrison.

The Abrams tanks exchanged fire with the Akulas. Even though the Akulas had stronger guns, they eventually gave in to heavily armored Abrams, who outnumbered them slightly. While this was going on, the Bradleys were exchanging fire with the AMX tanks. This skirmish was a stalemate, but the winning Abrams came in to support the Bradleys. And the AMX tanks blew up under the fire of the Bradleys, Abrams, and the Paladin mortars that fired from the distance. The Apache helicopters flew over to the Optical Camo soldiers, but were cut down by the Tunguskas and the SA-7 Missile troopers. The Hind-D's fired their FFAR Hydra missiles at the Paladin Mortars who were destroyed by the blast.

Then, the Tunguskas, Hind-D's, and the Consortium infantry were given the order to attack the remaining U.S. Army tanks. But the Hind-D's were obliterated by the Avengers, the Tunguskas were blasted away by the tanks, and the Consortium infantry were slaughtered by the U.S. Army infantry, who defeated them because they Consortium infantry were focusing their fire on the tanks, who were heavily armored. But the Avengers were being destroyed due to the unchecked Piranhas. So after the Consortium infantry was defeated, the remaining U.S. army forces attacked the piranhas, finishing off the Consortium army.

"Phew, we won the battle!" said Harrison to Sanjay. He was overjoyed as the odds were stacked against him.

"Great job, sir," replied Sanjay to the weary officer. He cheered along with all of the other remaining U.S. Army units.

"But we aint done yet." said Harrison. "We still have to take care of the base before they decide to rebuild. Give the orders to attack the base,"

"Yes, sir," replied Sanjay as he shouted out the order to the men. All of the remaining forces rallied together and got back into formation.

"_Damn, I lost a lot of men_," thought Harrison as he surveyed his remaining troops. "_And there are no POWs out here, so I can't get more info regarding what Stukov said,_" he finished. But anyways he continued and attacked the base.

The base, although without any army in it, was not easily taken. The railgun turrets put up quite a fight. Also the Tokamak reactors were also supercharged to provide as a defense. Altogether Harrison's forces lost one Abrams tank and a few Delta force soldiers. But, in the end, the Consortium base was leveled to the ground. The heavy firepower pummeled at the many Consortium buildings, leaving only a black scar on the earth behind.

After the battle, Harrison withdrew his forces back to the forward ops base that he set up. "We are going home, men!" he shouted to his happy but tired soldiers. All they were waiting for was evac. And it was coming swiftly. Once they reached the base, the men all healed up and the vehicles were all repaired. And soon afterwards, a large group of V-44's came in to evacuate the group of weary soldiers. One by one they entered into the V-44 heavy transports. Most of the buildings of the base were sold, but a few were left standing, like the field hospital and the barracks. Once everyone got inside the V-44's and all the final preparations were made, Harrison and his U.S. Army forces left Detroit and headed towards Washington. Harrison couldn't wait until he could show his results to Pentagon. But he still wondered about the info that the late General Stukov was trying to tell him…

General Jason Richter lied down on his expensive bed in his penthouse suite in Washington D.C, near the capitol building. He was getting laid by a beautiful woman by the name of Ari Vega, his girlfriend. Since he was so handsome, girls flocked to him, but Ari was the girl he liked the most, and she paid him a lot.

Richter was also drinking a glass of expensive wine. To him, everything was great.

"Hey general, sorry for intruding, but everything is going according to plan," said a lone marine who had just intruded into his room.

"What the hell, how dare you come into my room like this?" Richter dropped his bottle of wine, cracking it into a million pieces, and he quickly pulled up his pants while Ari dressed herself quickly. "You bitch! Clean up the glass right now!" he ordered to the marine.

"Y-yes, sir" muttered the marine as he cleaned up the mess. He immediately finished as fast as he could.

"That's right bitch!" yelled Richter. He then turned to grab another bottle of booze. After this, he turned back to the marine. "What news do you have for me?" he said to him.

"The Consortium heard about our plans, so they were going to tell Harrison," said the marine.

"That damn Harrison bitch! I'm gonna have him hanged once my plan follows through." Did they end up telling him?" said Richter.

"No, I managed to kill the man who was going to tell Harrison. And then I escaped and was evacuated just in time by one of your V-44s." replied the marine.

"Good. Now I can continue with my plans." said Richter in a happy go lucky tone. "You may go now."

"Yes, sir," replied the marine as he scurried out of the room as fast as he could.

Richter then pulled down his pants and Ari resumed. As he was enjoying his booze and his girl, he thought to himself, "_All is going according to plan. My war will begin soon…_"


End file.
